Where your heart is…

This post is about my home, a place where I spend most of my time these days. It is a 3 BHK apartment located in suburbs of Pune. We bought it 3 years back when we were still living in New Jersey. At the time, we did wish, it had been great to see the place ourselves, however we went ahead with the booking as part of financial investment for future if not anything else. But soon after we moved to Pune we decided to make it our first home and that’s where it truly started.

I had always loved arranging my house and keeping it in a certain way. Even as a child, when my exams used to get over, my favorite pastime was to arrange my closet, my room and many other areas around the house. Looking at an organized closet somehow makes me feel my life is organized and is in sync, and I do it because I enjoy it. So when we sat together talking about interior design of our new home, I had so so much to contribute.

Although, we hired designers who have done a terrific job to our space, this project was nothing less than a learning experience. So here I am sharing some of my notes from the project. I am extremely proud of my home, and I hope my notes would help someone looking to design/redesign their own home.

Get the layout correct

Layout is probably the first step of your interior design project and is undoubtably the most important one. Based on your requirements of the space, the designer(or you) will come up with multiple options on how the furniture should be arranged and how much space it would occupy. As a consumer of the space, it is crucial to pay extra attention and spend ample time on getting the layout correct. Think of light, wind as well as overall dimensions of your space. If you are someone to follow Vastu make sure it is being addressed during layout. Once the layout is finalized, several craftsmen will be working in parallel and soon it could be too late to make major changes to the design, so get it right.

Choose your style wisely

Choosing a unique style for your design is second most important thing. The way I understand design style – It is a very specific set of emotions that you wish to translate to the viewer through your design. Choosing a style that has its own personality is what will make your design timeless.

Always be on the lookout for finding a correct style for your home. Share yours hobbies, inspirations, favorite outdoor landscapes, holiday destinations with the designer. If you are not able to express your desired style verbally, try to share reference images and help them understand what you liked about a particular picture for example the colors, the materials, the texture and so on. More importantly, do not get bogged down by various architectural styles. It is absolutely not necessary to pick one or two of them but simply have them as guidelines when choosing the shapes, materials and color palettes.

Know some color theory

Even if you hire a designer, it is definitely a huge advantage to know a bit of color theory like primary colors, secondary colors, warm colors, cool colors, tints and shades of colors, grey scale and also various color schemes such as monochrome, complimentary, split complimentary and so on. The knowledge of color is prudent while choosing laminate, wall color and fabric for your space. Knowing warm and cool colors, you can decide whether you want to go for a cozy decor (use of warm colors) or a more welcoming open space (use of cool colors).

Balance you finances

As the interior design project progresses, lots of new ideas start to pour and the initial thoughts transform into concrete design. When this happens, it is inevitable to adjust your budget accordingly. We found it quite helpful to revise financial estimates once every few weeks and tried to achieve balance in terms of design elements we wish to add. You can also prioritize your decor to suit your wallet, just make sure the choices you make now can evolve and adapt to future changes to the design.

Focus on small things

Attention to detail is another crucial part when thinking of the design. As a consumer of the space, pay attention to each individual component and how you wish to use it at later point of time. For ex, if you are into reading – have a nice little spot where you can sit quietly and read, if you are into collectibles – have enough space for their display, if you are fond of gardening – have areas for indoor/outdoor plantation and so on.

Think twice about maintenance

It goes without saying that the interior should be maintainable. Always think of at least 10 years window when deciding maintainability of a piece of furniture or decor. Think about addition of new members to the household and also aging of existing members and select the components accordingly. External factors affect largely to the furniture, color, fabrics, etc. so choose the components that are easy to clean, repair and would season gracefully.

Finally, simply don’t go about your home as a display of fancy decor elements neither as a bunch of fancy furniture and storage. let it be a reflection of your personality and yet let it have a character of its own. The most beautiful spaces I have found are the ones having correct balance of style, taste and utility.